IT practitioners are often faced with platform selection choices when building solutions for their customers. The set of available choices is always subject to lots of churn and chaos. This talk looks at what separates successful platforms from others in terms of how each one deals with technical and non-technical concerns.

1. PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE
PLATFORM GROWTH
TABLE STAKES OR DEAL MAKES?
Edward Burns
@edburns
github.com/edburns
http://ridingthecrest.com
Slides at http://bit.ly/DealMakesTLL
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns

2. MY PLAN FOR YOUR TIME
INVESTMENT
My Experience with programming
language platforms
Platforms and their success factors
Summary and Key Takeaways
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns

3. SPEAKER QUALIFICATIONS
ED BURNS
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
25 years software development experience
Java EE Spec Lead for JSF and Servlet
Frequent conference speaker and workshop leader
Author of four IT books for McGraw-Hill

4. Platforms I’ve Known
Who is this guy anyway?
Why is he qualified to give such
an opinionated talk?
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns

5. Platforms I’ve Known
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
Oil and Chemistry Building,
home of Mosaic

6. Platforms I’ve Known
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns

7. Platforms I’ve Known
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns

8. Platforms I’ve Known
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns

9. Platforms I’ve Known
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns

10. WHAT MAKES A LANGUAGE
PLATFORM SUCCESSFUL?
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns

11. TABLE STAKES
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=table%20stakes
The minimum amount required to play a hand of poker.
Also, the minimum amount of effort your lazy ass needs to
expend to compete at work, in relationships and basically
all facets of life.
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns

12. TABLE STAKES
Core Language Features
Build Lifecycle
Facilitating Re-use and Distribution
Testing
Tooling
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns

13. DEAL MAKERS OR BREAKERS
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
Monetization
The Killer App
Stackoverflowability
Maintainability
Talent Pool
Compatibility Story

14. TABLE STAKES:
CORE LANGUAGE FEATURES
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns

15. CATEGORIES
James Gosling is wary of categorization
BEWARE OF CATEGORIZATION
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns

16. CATEGORIES
BEWARE OF CATEGORIZATION
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns

17. CATEGORIES
James Gosling is wary of categorization
BEWARE OF CATEGORIZATION
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns

18. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: JAVA

19. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: PYTHON

20. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: GO

21. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: NODE.JS

22. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: RUBY

23. TABLE STAKES:
BUILD LIFECYCLE
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns

24. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: JAVA

25. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: PYTHON

26. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: GO

27. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: NODE.JS

28. TABLE STAKES:
REUSE AND DISTRIBUTION
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns

29. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: JAVA

30. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: PYTHON

31. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: GO

32. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: NODE.JS

33. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: RUBY

34. TABLE STAKES:
TESTING
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns

35. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: JAVA

36. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: PYTHON

37. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: GO

38. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: NODE.JS

39. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: RUBY

40. TABLE STAKES:
TOOLING
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns

41. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: JAVA

42. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: PYTHON

43. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: GO

44. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: NODE.JS

45. DEAL MAKERS OR
BREAKERS
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
Factors that “seal the deal”

46. DEAL MAKERS OR BREAKERS
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
Monetization
The Killer App
Stackoverflowability
Maintainability
Talent Pool
Compatibility Story

47. DEAL MAKERS:
MONETIZATION
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns

48. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: JAVA

49. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: PYTHON

50. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: GO

51. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: NODE.JS

52. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: RUBY

53. DEAL MAKERS:
THE KILLER APP
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns

54. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: JAVA

55. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: PYTHON

56. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: GO

57. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: NODE.JS

58. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: RUBY

59. DEAL MAKERS:
STACKOVERFLOWABILITY
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns

60. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS
stackoverflow trends

61. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: JAVA
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
0 5 10 15 20 25
Java: Top 20 Stackoverflow answerers, answers*1k

62. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: PYTHON
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
0 5 10 15 20 25
Python: Top 20 Stackoverflow answerers, answers
*1k

63. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: GO
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
0 5 10 15 20 25
Golang: Top 20 Stackoverflow answerers, answers *1k

64. MODERN SECRET
SPOTTING TRENDS
The picture can't be displayed.
Look at an existing trend and
ask why it happened: Kubernetes
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns

65. MODERN SECRET
SPOTTING TRENDS
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns

66. MODERN SECRET
RIDING THE HAMSTER WHEEL OF PROGRESS
The picture can't be displayed.
Kubernetes could be seen as an
evolution of the app server.
Advice for app server
developers moving to Kubernetes
and the cloud?
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns

67. MODERN SECRET
RIDING THE HAMSTER WHEEL OF PROGRESS
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns

68. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: NODE.JS
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
0 5 10 15 20 25
Node.js: Top 20 Stackoverflow answerers, answers *1k

69. ANCIENT SECRET
COLLABORATION
Growing your community?
Gravitate to small communities
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns

70. ANCIENT SECRET
COLLABORATION
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns

71. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: RUBY
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
0 5 10 15 20 25
Rails: Top 20 Stackoverflow answerers,
answers *1k

72. DEAL MAKERS:
MAINTAINABILITY
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns

73. DEAL MAKERS:
TALENT POOL
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns

74. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: JAVA

75. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: PYTHON

76. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: GO

77. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: NODE.JS

78. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: RUBY

79. DEAL MAKERS:
COMPATIBILITY STORY
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns

80. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: JAVA

81. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: PYTHON

82. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: GO

83. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: NODE.JS

84. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: RUBY

85. DEAL MAKERS:
LIBRARY SUPPORT
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns

86. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: JAVA

87. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: PYTHON

88. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: GO

89. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: NODE.JS

90. Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
THE PLATFORMS: RUBY

91. The Orders of Ignorance
Phillip Armour, October 2000 CACM
0
th
Order Ignorance: Lack of Ignorance
1
st
Order Ignorance: Lack of Knowledge
2
nd
Order Ignorance: Lack of Awareness
3
rd
Order Ignorance: Lack of a Suitably Efficient
process to get to 2OI
4
th
Order Ignorance: Meta-Ignorance
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns

92. • Table Stakes
• A platform simply must have all of
these things to be successful
• Core language features
• Build Lifecycle
• Testing
• Tooling
• Deal Makers or Breakers
• The things that really make the
difference
• Ability to make money
• Killer App
• Stackoverflowability
• Maintainability
• Talent Pool
• Compatibility
• Libraries
• You have to sweat the small
stuff: es muß ausgefeilt werden
• Respect that the developer’s
time is more important than
yours
Copyright © 2019 Ed Burns
SUMMARY AND
KEY TAKEAWAYS